they started in the loft with earthing wire, down into the bathroom, underbath and sink and attached tags,
So far that sounds as though they were applying supplementary equipotential bonding between the extraneous-conductive-parts in the bathroom and the circuits supplying the bathroom (e.g. lights, shower etc).
But then...
under the floor through to the kitchen, to pipes under sink
a) It should not have been extended beyond the bathroom
b) It's been a very long time since they got rid of the requirement for supplementary equipotential bonding in kitchens anyway.
and
and just outside the kitchen was an earthing spike, not sure what this does but thats where this wire ended.
Supplementary bonding does not go to earth.
I'm afraid it sounds as though your landlord employed people who didn't know what they were doing.
They then earthed the boiler (oil fuled combi boiler)and the wire ran from the boiler to the fuse box in the kitchen and thats it,
That could well have been main equipotential bonding for the incoming oil pipe, which should have gone back to the main earth terminal, either in the CU or near to it.
so was the house earthed origionally or had they forgotten to do it?
That we still don't know, as what you've been describing is bonding not earthing.
We don't know if your circuits have earth conductors, nor if the whole house has a main earth, or what type of supply earth it should have.
Can you take photos of the area around the incoming supply/main fuse/meter/consumer unit, and of the earth spike outside the kitchen, and post them here?
i got the electical surveyor from the housing association to visit but he just made me feel like rubbish for questioning him!
Housing Associations ought to be more reputable than a dodgy private landlord.
Write to them, and ask them to confirm in writing that the electricians they used were qualified and registered with a competent person scheme, and that they issued a certificate stating that the work they did was in compliance with the 17th Edition of The IET Wiring Regulations.